Note that the commodity Seagate Barracuda line is not as reliable and has in our uses an MTBF of about 2 years. We have not had a Constellation drive failure since implementing them in 2012.

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Note that the commodity Seagate Barracuda line is not as reliable and has had in our uses an MTBF of about 2 years. We have not had a Constellation drive failure since implementing them in 2012.

Revision as of 07:10, 23 September 2014

Computer systems that run the telescopes, store data, and provide remote analysis for users are currently built in house from standard components selected for the best performance/price ratio. Starting in the spring of 2014 we will try to document the selections here. Typically useful lifetimes for hardware before failure or obsolescence is 3 to 5 years.

Workstation Chassis

A large case provides exceptional ventilation, ease of access, and quiet operation. USB3 is brought out to the front panel. The interior has many slots for SATA drives and for two full height DVD drives. If rack mounting is not required, it will work splendidly as a server enclosure especially for systems with GPU cards that require high power. The SATA drive carriers do not use screws, and while the drives are not hot swappable, it takes only minutes to replace one without tools.

Power

The Corsair power supplies have been reliable and are quiet. A typical one in recent use is the TX650 available for about $95.

Power supplies for the observatories have to be quiet, and should be green with high efficiency. Typical lifetimes have been 3 to 5 years, but some supplies from Antec have had premature failure and are not recommended.

CPU

The best CPU is selected at time of purchase based on Passmark ratings from this site:

As of September 2014 the preferred selection is an LGA2011 socket Intel Hex Core I7-5820K running at 3.3 GHz for $580. It is available from Amazon and other suppliers at about $380, an alternative to comparable Xeon processors that are about twice the price.

It runs quietly, and is not at risk for use at a telescope where there may be temperature extremes.

Motherboard

We have had good success with motherboards from Supermicro. Currently there are more than 10 in service, some for two years of continuous use. We have had three failures in two years. One was in a system exposed to environmental extremes, and a similar one was in a controlled environment. Both failed after a power disruption even though they were on surge-protected circuitry. The problem could have been with the motherboard itself, or due to a spike from the power supply. We have not had a failure with the preferred power supply noted below.